1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 240 The new planning of the port area

Unlike later generations who brag desperately for foreigners with US dollars and attribute all domestic problems to the "public knowledge" of the system, the Executive Committee does not hope that people like Li Nai will become brainless blacks against the Ming government in the future, and even more so. He is not going to turn him into a rebel leader in Ming Dynasty in the future.What the time travel group needs now is the voluntary attachment of insightful people from the heart, instead of launching farce-style street riots in Daming to mess up the social system. Raw materials and labor, and digesting the large amount of production in Shengli Port, a primary industrial area, through trade, providing the Transit Group with the wealth needed for early development.

As for whether the time travel group will annex the declining Ming regime one day, the executive committee's answer is yes.Compared with the relatively advanced social management system brought by the Traveling Group from later generations, the backward system of the feudal dynasty has indeed restricted the pace of social productivity development, and when it is time to change the dynasty, it must follow the trend of history.But now is obviously not the time, the Ming Dynasty is not exhausted, and the Traveling Group may even need to try to help Daming maintain domestic stability in the next few years.

Except for some technical details that need to be kept secret, Victory Port is completely open to literati like Li Nai.How much a smart person like him can learn and understand from what he has seen and heard is his own creation.The Executive Committee did not expect to completely pull Li Nai into its own camp. It only needs to make him aware of the differences between the areas under the Haihan rule and the Ming society. I believe he will gradually understand which of the two social systems is better. Which is better.

On October 10th, the eighth day of Li Nai's stay in Victory Harbor.Early this morning, Li Nai went to the cafeteria to get breakfast as usual.Here he ran into an old acquaintance, Wei Pingwei of the Yulin Inspection Department.We haven't seen each other for two months, Wei Ping seems to be a lot fatter than before, and it seems that the confinement life in Shengli Port is still going on.After being under house arrest for several months, Wei Ping's mentality is now much calmer than when he first came here, his words and deeds are much more honest, and his range of activities is larger than that of two months ago, and he can walk around the entire port area. ——Of course it is impossible to leave Victory Port.

Ren Liang, the head of the management committee of the port area and the former director of the labor camp, had already vaccinated the inspection department and the gang. As long as one person escaped, all of them would have to go to the labor camp as hard labor. .With this chain tied to it, there is no need to arrange additional manpower to guard it. The inspectors will automatically keep an eye on each other, lest any daring guy take advantage of the loophole and escape.

Of course, after living in Victory Harbor for a few months, these people gradually realized the benefits of living here - no need to be exposed to the wind and sun, no need to do things, three meals a day to eat ready-made hot dishes, and the end of the month If you have money to take, where can you find such a good job?Fleeing back to Yazhou, that ghost place is not as good as Shengli Harbor!Although personal freedom is restricted, it seems to be used to it after a long time. As long as they don't go out to cause trouble, the Haihan security guards don't seem to have the leisure to care about what their group of people are doing.There are even two guys who can't stay idle, because they used to be carpenters, but they went to work as helpers in the shipyard by themselves.

Regarding the gradual change in the attitude of the inspectors, Ren Liang believes that this is already some signs of the "Stockholm Syndrome". real psychological phenomenon.Wei Ping even took the initiative to describe the rapid development of Shengli Port in his work report to Yazhou with words like "the government is smooth and the people are harmonious, and a hundred wastes are prosperous". Yazhou's family received Shengli Port to settle down.

Of course Wei Ping would not be reconciled to being locked up in Shengli Port until he resigned. He still hopes to do more things to reflect his own value-every time Luo Shengdong from Shuizhai comes to Shengli Port, he almost always goes with him. The upper echelons of the Haihan people are all in one piece, and if I want to meet the head of Haihan of the Port District Management Committee to report the roof leak, I still need to apply for an appointment with the security guard on duty in advance, and the treatment is too far away.When Luo Shengdong came to Shengli Port last time, he also brought him a letter from his family——Wei Ping's brother-in-law, who knows him, will retire honorably next year, and he is already planning for his life after retirement, which means Seeing that Wei Ping's biggest backer is slowly dying in a countdown manner, the time left for him is running out.

Wei Ping now has more freedom. Every time Luo Shengdong's ship is loading at the port, he will also go to the pier intentionally or unintentionally.When he saw that the warships in Shuizhai left with at least a few thousand to as many as tens of thousands of catties of Haihan refined salt, Wei Ping finally understood why Luo Shengdong said he was "" The bear fell into the honey pot”——this trip is at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and it’s really good to make money hanging out with the Haihan people!It's a pity that I didn't understand the true meaning of these words at the time, otherwise why should I regard the 50 taels of "office expenses for the inspection department" as a life-saving straw now? The income earned by Victory Harbor in prison for one year.

Moreover, Wei Ping also noticed that at first Luo Shengdong brought only one or two ships to Shengli Port, occasionally a little more but no more than five ships at most, but recently the size of the navy fleet that came to Shengli Port is getting bigger and bigger. .More than ten days ago, Luo Shengdong actually brought a fleet of nearly [-] large and small warships and civilian ships into Shengli Port. Wei Ping almost thought that this guy was going to attack Shengli Port.But in the end, it turned out that Luo Shengdong specially organized a fleet to help the Haihan people transport immigrants to Xingang in the east.Although Wei Ping spit and scolded Luo Shengdong for his shameless behavior, he still felt a little jealous in his heart—it is said that the Haihan people will build a bigger salt farm in Xingang to the east. Will it be faster?

Wei Ping knew that he could no longer get involved in the private salt business, and Luo Shengdong had already made it clear to him.If I want to get ahead in Victory Port and reap some benefits, I am afraid that it will still be based on my official status in the end-this is the only reason why the Haihan people support their group.Therefore, when Li Nai visited Shengli Port last time, Wei Ping tried his best to get in touch with Li Nai, and persuaded him to stand up for him, and asked the Haihan people to regain their freedom.Of course, this kind of treatment also has to pay a corresponding price. For example, the Yulin Inspection Department has been at the disposal of the Haihan Executive Committee since then.Although it was not immediately approved by the Executive Committee at that time, it was not rejected. The final statement is that it takes time to study and study.

Wei Ping doesn't know what else the Haihan people need to study, but at least it shows that there is still a glimmer of hope for this matter.Ever since "Furuifeng" started enclosing land in the port area, Wei Ping realized that if he wanted to stand out, he had to count on Shengli Port to prosper quickly. Only when there were more Ming businessmen coming and going here would he be able to exist as an inspection department. meaning.

Wei Ping had thought about it for several months, and he had already thought through the matter thoroughly. Luo Shengdong could do it, but Lao Tzu couldn't do it?Luo Shengdong can run errands for the Haihan people. As the Yulin inspection department, I am a nine-rank inspector, and he is also a local official. In the future, it will still be useful to help the Haihan people deal with some disputes caused by foreign Ming people.The inspection department can handle civil affairs, public security, taxation and other affairs in the area under the jurisdiction of the Haihan people. Isn't it much more useful than Luo Shengdong who can only run errands?

Of course, to achieve this goal, the premise is still the prosperity of Shengli Port, so during this period of time, Wei Ping has even higher expectations for foreign merchants than the Executive Committee. In the next moment, one hundred and eighty merchant ships appeared on the sea surface of Yulinjiao.Of course, it is not possible for this scene to appear in the current Shengli Port for the time being. Except for a small number of regular merchants in Yazhou and Guangzhou, most of the businessmen who come to Shengli Port for trade now come from Danzhou and Qiongzhou prefectural cities in the north. Not too many, and the scale is not large, they are all here to sell some raw materials, or send a group of immigrants, and then buy a batch of Haihan glass products to go back.

Just three days before Li Nai's fleet arrived at Victory Port, Wei Ping finally had the opportunity to help the Haihan people solve a small problem.A cargo ship from Danzhou had a dispute with dock workers due to cargo shipment issues. Seeing that it was about to develop into a gang fight, Wei Ping, who happened to be playing the watchman stone at the dock, immediately seized this opportunity and rushed to Haihan Security Guards. Intervened to quell the conflict before arriving.Ren Liang, who arrived at the scene afterwards, didn't say much after hearing what had happened, but just patted Wei Ping on the shoulder and left.But two days later, someone came to the inspection department to convey the new notice from the executive committee—the office of the inspection department will be relocated in the near future, from the outside of the current No. [-] base to the vicinity of the Shengli Harbor Wharf.

Although the relocation distance is actually only a few hundred meters, for Wei Ping, this is definitely the biggest good news since he came to Victory Port.Leaving the side of No. [-] base means that the Haihan people have relaxed their supervision on the inspection department, and moving to the vicinity of the dock means that the Haihan people have also recognized the inspection department's ability to handle disputes with outsiders, and will continue to do so in the future. The inspection department was used as a signboard for the public display of Victory Port.

After being imprisoned for a few months, Wei Ping was not overwhelmed by the sudden good news. He knew that the Haihan people's arrangement was to give him a chance to perform, but it was only a chance. Reuse, it still depends on whether your performance can meet the wishes of Haihan people.

The arrival of Li Nai gave Wei Ping another reassurance. Now that "Furuifeng" has started to build a store in the local area, it seems that it is only a matter of time before merchants from the mainland gradually settle in Shengli Port.After breakfast, Wei Ping invited Li Nai, who was also idle, to take a walk on the pier, and take a look at the newly allocated land for the inspection department by the port management committee.

As the two walked, they had a further detailed discussion on the previously reached cooperation agreement.According to the previous agreement between the two parties, after the "Furuifeng" storehouse is built in Shengli Port, the inspection department will act as a protective umbrella for it-of course, this protection is for other foreign merchants, not for foreign merchants. Regarding the Haihan people, Wei Ping didn't have the courage to jump out and make troubles.As for "Fu Ruifeng", it will provide a certain amount of remuneration for the inspection department's protective behavior. This remuneration may be in the form of goods or cash, depending on the results of the negotiations between the two parties.Wei Ping estimates that the benefits that can be obtained from this alone are enough to far exceed the existing "office expenses of the inspection department".

The location of the new inspection department is very close to the new cargo terminal that was just completed this month. The [-]-meter-long terminal along the coastline will be the main port of call for Shengli Port in the next few years. Merchant ships from other places will stop here.At the rear of the wharf, a cargo yard covering an area of ​​several hundred acres has been planned, and a large storage warehouse, a bulk cargo yard, and a dedicated coal transportation channel connected to the rail transportation system will be built here in the future.Hundreds of laborers are leveling the foundation here under the command of several foremen, and cutting down and removing all the trees in the planning area.

"Under the rule of our Ming Dynasty, it would take a year or two to complete a wharf of this scale, which shows that the Haihan people are good at construction." Li Nai sighed as he watched the labor scene here.When he came here last time, the project of the whole pier was only two-thirds completed. Li Nai estimated that the construction could be completed before the end of the year, even if the Haihan people were capable. Unexpectedly, he would come again after two months. The freight yard behind has already started to enter the construction state.

Wei Ping replied: "I look at it every day, but I don't realize how fast the construction is. From my point of view, the reason why the Haihan people were able to build the wharf in such a short period of time is because of their orderliness in doing things. It is well organized, and even the meal time of the workers is carefully planned and eaten in batches. According to my observation, in the past few months, as long as the sky is bright, there will be no downtime on the wharf site. How can the construction speed not be fast!"

Li Nai nodded and said, "I'm afraid this construction method is not only used in this pier. The Haihan people's projects are handled in this way, so they can build such a situation in a few months."

After the new cargo terminal is put into use, the original terminal will also undergo further reconstruction and expansion.The scale of the wharf built at the initial stage of landing has gradually failed to meet the current needs of shipping. The Ministry of Construction plans to rebuild it in accordance with the standards of a passenger wharf and use it as a local immigration wharf in the future.As for the future berths for military ships, the Executive Committee does not plan to put them in the existing dock area of ​​the port area, but plans to place them on the coast of the military barracks on the east side of the harbor, which is where the submarine dock of Yulin Military Port is located. .In this way, the armed forces guarding Victory Port can be integrated by sea and land, and it will be more convenient to deploy a limited number of military personnel during wartime.

Of course, in the long-term plan, Shengli Port will eventually become a military port mainly for military purposes, and the freight and passenger terminals will gradually move westward with the development of the Sanya area, and be placed in the Sanya Port located in the inland area.

Li Nai and Wei Ping wandered along the built road in the new dock area, followed by Jiang San sent by the executive committee from a distance.The area where the ground level has been completed here is full of wooden boards, which indicate the purpose of the plot, such as No. [-] warehouse, goods registration office, currency exchange office, and so on.In the end, the sharp-eyed Li Nai was the first to see the wooden board that read "Daming Yulin Inspection Department": "Brother Wei, this is the place! Congratulations!"

At present, only signs have been erected on the designated plots, and short branches inserted into the ground are used as dividing lines to mark the approximate range.Wei Ping took a visual inspection, and found that the land was actually not that big, about one mu of land. Compared with the five mu of land assigned to "Furuifeng" by the management committee, such a small piece of land was a bit shabby, but compared to The existing small courtyard of the inspection department is already five times larger, so it doesn't seem like it's a bad treatment. After all, "Furuifeng" has several businesses to open, and the inspection department is only a dozen or so. It's just a big man, and it's useless to occupy so much land.

Wei Ping was already happy in his heart, but he said solemnly on his face: "I just don't know when it will be completed, so as to show my Ming Dynasty orthodoxy!"

Li Nai couldn't help slandering in his heart, now that you are being supported by the Haihan people, don't pretend to be a loyal minister. If you hear these words through the wall, and the Haihan people remove the board, I'm afraid you, Mr. Wei, inspector Wei I have to obediently roll back to the small yard and continue squatting.Orthodoxy... the majestic navy of the Ming Dynasty is running errands for the Haihan people, what kind of orthodoxy are you still talking about here, a ninth-rank patrol inspector!
Of course, thinking about this kind of words, Li Nai was still not superficial enough to say it directly, and just congratulated Wei Ping again and again.After Wei Ping said this, he probably felt a little guilty, so he stopped the conversation and changed the topic: "This place is not bad, it is facing the pier in front, and foreign merchants who land here can see it at first sight. Inspectorate."

Li Nai nodded, turned his head to look left and right, and said, "On the left is the security office of the port area, and on the right is the port affairs center. They should be the offices of the Haihan people."

"I know the port affairs center below. It is the place where the management committee of the port area handles daily affairs. What is this security office?" Wei Ping was also a little confused after reading it.

"The Security Office is the agency that protects the security of the port area." At some point, Ren Liang appeared not far behind them, apparently overhearing their conversation: "In short, its function is similar to that of the Inspection Department. In charge of security affairs."

Wei Ping's face changed when he heard that - he had finally rectified the name of the inspection department, and was about to move here to work, but a yamen with overlapping functions came directly next to him?This is like turning Dongchang and Jinyiwei into neighbors, and he is still the weak side. Can he happily protect the environment and the people in the future?

(End of this chapter)